re: thirumaN kaappu

[Guest guest]

Dear Padma priya and other bhakthaas of the list,

 

On the subject of wearing thirumaN kaappu by women, I have to say the

following based on "sthree dharmangal' chapter in the book on sadhaachaara

practices, by prakrutham HH Sri Azhagiyasingar.

 

First for "sumangali sthree"- [viz. Married women with husband living] Such

sumangalis after their bath must wear 2 vasthrams in red colour. [one sari

and another one as jacket].

 

On the lighter side, please do not ask me "is it red only daily?- then what

happens to all the different colours available in the wardrobe?" The answer

is -yes- as per the slokam in the book but in practice it may be different

since we do many other things what is said and not said].

 

Then, perform aachamanam after washing the feet once again [this is apart

from having cleaned all the body during the bath].

 

You may ask "How to do this aachamanam"- The answer is- without the praNavam

and the 4th vibakthi for the naamam of achyutha etc, the sumangali has to

utter the aachamana manthram and drink the water 3 times- i.e. say achyutha

anantha govindha. Then recite the 12 namams of bhagavaan in the aachamana

manthra -plainly means without pranavam and namah. Simple uttering only and

not like men who say these- pranavam achyuthaaya namah: Similarly no

touching of the body in 12 places like men during these 12 nama uttering [no

anga nyaasam in 12 places like two eyes, nose etc for ladies].

 

Then adorn the single thirumaN kaappu in the perumaaL sannadhi [puja room]

in the shape of bhagavaan thiruvadi- feet of the lord or ardha chandran. The

sree chooraNam has to be in the shape of the dheepa rEkai (the flame shape

of an oil lit lamp] or pumpkin seed {and definitely not round}.

 

Then turn towards sun and give one argyam without any manthram. Then have

the dhyaanam on the guru parampara and carry out ashtaakshara japam as per

upadhEsam. There is no need for praaNaayaamam sankalpam etc like men for

this japam.

 

Now for the vidhavaa sthree- more or less same as sumangali, but the dress

has to be in kashaaya colour or naarmadi - dull colour- the thirumaN is 12

in number like men -at same places as for men.

 

[please note here for sumangali it is ONE only and for widow it is 12- in

earlier mail Sri MaadhavakkaNNan has said 12 for women also but please note

the nirNayam here].

 

For young and unmarried girls there is no nirNayam in the book.

 

The following view is mine. In those days, as the girls once attain puberty

or just around that age, they will be given in marriage and then the

samaasrayaNam and upadEsam of the moola manthram will be performed, there is

NO rule laid down for the young girls. But for the boys, there are rules and

regulations, since they have to undergo upanayanam and the vEdha adhyayanam

after 7th year.

 

But these days the marriages take place after the age of 20 etc, the

procedures as laid for sumangali can be adopted by these women also till

they get married and become eligible as per the nirNayam. Earlier days, only

married women will be performed samaasrayaNam but nowadays spinster of more

than 20 also get these done by aachaaryaas and hence I am sure such

relaxation can be had in this thirumaN kaappu rules also.

 

So I appreciate the desire of Padmapriya in asking this question. Definitely

you can start wearing the thirumaN daily.

 

Dhaasan

Vasudevan M.G.

[Guest guest]

Sri M.G. Vasudevan wrote:

> [please note here for sumangali it is ONE only and for widow it is 12-

 

In this matter, there are variations from family to family

and acharya to acharya. There is a difference even for men

in the various sampradAyas. In most traditions, while wearing

all twelve is preferred, men are to wear at least two tirumaNs --

one on the forehead and the other on the back of the neck (see

Sri Gopala Desika's Ahnikam, for example). But the Ahobila Matha

tradition prescribes wearing only one tirumaN if one cannot wear

all twelve, arguing against wearing one on the back of the neck.

 

I am aware of several traditions which recommend that women (sumangalis

included) wear four tirumaNs after samASrayaNam. These four are the

forehead and the three around the neck. The other eight are omitted for

reasons of modesty. Women generally do not go topless in our society!.

Even these three are worn only in an abbreviated manner by women in

these traditions.

 

To my knowledge, meditation on the 12 tirumaNs is common to all,

whether all twelve are actually worn or not.

 

It is interesting to also read the recommendation that sumangalis

wear two garments. I am told by my grandmother and others that

orthodox women in the old days eschewed tailored blouses as a modern

invention, considering them polluting. They only used a single sari

to cover their entire body. One gentleman who recalled his grandmother

dressing this way remarked with amazement how he never saw anything

even remotely revealing, despite her intense activity in all the years

he knew her!

 

Mani